Browns: Getting entire offense involved critical in final seven games

Cleveland Browns head coach Rob Chudzinski talks to wide receiver Greg Little (18) on the sidelines in the second quarter of an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens Sunday, Nov. 3, 2013, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Greg Little led the Browns in receptions as a rookie in 2011 and again last season, but halfway through 2013 he ranked fifth with 21 catches and was on his way to the least productive season of his career.
Not coincidentally, perhaps, the Browns lost three straight games before playing the Ravens on Nov. 3 despite stellar seasons from tight end Jordan Cameron (49 catches) and wide receiver Josh Gordon (32 receptions in six games).
“We have to find a way to get everyone involved in our offense,” offensive coordinator Norv Turner said before the Baltimore game. “Right now, Jordan and Josh are making most of the plays in the passing game and we need to get everyone involved because at some point, if you only have two guys really making a lot of plays, pretty soon they can dry up.”
The Browns play the Bengals in Cincinnati next Sunday. The Bengals have lost two straight games but still lead the AFC North with a 6-4 record. The Browns and Ravens are 4-5. The Steelers are 3-6.
The Browns beat the Bengals, 17-6, on Sept. 29 with Brian Hoyer at quarterback and Cameron catching 10 passes for 91 yards and a touchdown. Gordon caught four passes for 71 yards.
Little played in the first Cincinnati game, but he did not catch a pass. He was targeted only twice.
If what happened in the 24-18 victory over the Ravens last Sunday is a hint of what to expect in the final seven games Little, Davone Bess, Cameron and Gordon will all be part of the game plan. Little caught a career-high seven passes against the Ravens on a day when Cameron was held to one catch. Bess caught three passes — two of them for touchdowns and one a critical fourth-down reception.
“We’re a young group,” quarterback Jason Campbell said last week. “Coach Norv said it when the season started. Every week, there’s going to be a different guy that’s going to make plays. We should be better in the rest of November and December just because of the simple fact of being in the system for a while and guys understanding each other better and better week in and week out.
“The more I can play with these guys, the better chemistry we can build on. There’s still a lot of room for improvement. We watched the film, and there are still a lot of things that we all can do better as a collective group. We’ve just got to keep taking those steps and keep striving.”
Campbell is 1-1 as a starter with the Browns. He has thrown five touchdown passes without an interception and posted a passer rating of 100-plus in both games. According to Elias Sports Bureau, he is the first Browns quarterback since the beginning of the Super Bowl era in 1966 to record 100-plus passer ratings in his first two starts with the team.
Barring injury or a total collapse, Campbell will start the final seven games. Brandon Weeden is the only other quarterback on the roster and was 0-4 in the games he started.
Campbell is 31-42 in 73 career starts with the Redskins, Raiders, Bears and Browns. Brian Hoyer was 2-0 as a starter before a knee injury ended his season.
The Vikings and Bengals did not have much film on Hoyer to study, but the Bengals know how Campbell plays dating back to his days with the Redskins. Campbell was playing well with the Raiders in 2011 before suffering a broken collarbone in a game against the Browns, but he admits this season has a different feeling to it.
If the Browns are to make a run at the playoffs, Campbell will be leading the charge and spreading the ball around to Gordon, Cameron, Little, Bess and tight end Gary Barnidge, who caught a touchdown pass from Campbell against the Ravens.
“I think I’m there,” Campbell said. “I was having a good year going back in 2011. And back in 2008 (with the Redskins), for the most part of that season when we had a lot of injuries, things were going really well.
“But I just feel like I’m in a different place as far as where my mindset is. I just need to have strong faith and continue to come out here each and every day to work extremely hard, not try to put any pressure or stress about anything, just let it all hang out, just have fun.”
Campbell’s best season statistically was in 2009 with the Redskins when he started 16 games and completed 327 of 507 passes for 3,618 yards. He threw 20 touchdown passes and 15 interceptions. The Redskins finished 4-12 and on April 24, 2010, was traded to the Raiders for a fourth-round draft choice.